Been driving the car a bunch this summer. The last round of updates went well. She is ripping strong, but needed some more refinement before my epic 7000 mile roadtrip that is coming in a couple weeks.
There is a gathering of classic audis in Vegas every year, and I plan on attending. This round I have done a ton of little and annoying tasks that have taken me about 3 weeks to work through. The car is looking like a nicely polished turd, no more rust spots, trim all in place, body panel seams all reasonably correct.
-Added lift pump, running off factory fuel pump relay, using a second relay that grounds the signal pin and is triggered off the fuel stop solenoid. This works perfect, it primes the pump for 5 seconds or so and then runs permanently when crank motion is sensed.
-replaced driver side door lock cylinder, swapped tumblers into new OEM lock assembly so the ignition key still opens the drivers door. I also had to rewire the door harness as the power lock trigger wire was broken in the drivers door accordion
-fix intermediate shaft oil leak
-change trans fluid
-pull out dents in rocker panel and pinch welds and recoat the rocker panels
-remove passenger fender, repaint lower half (under mid trim and down)
-replace idler pulley on serp belt
-ordered spare belts for trip
-replace rear diff, mine had a noisy bearing on the driver side
-replace snub mount rubber, TDI ate the old one
-run some diesel purge through the pump
-change fuel filter
-repaint valve cover (very important)
-fix intermittent wipers, not sure exactly whats wrong here. Probably just nasty dried grease in the contacts of the motor assembly, or maybe the relay.
-replaced the small odometer gear, had the typical chipped tooth.
I also bought an 11mm fuel pump from an automatic ALH TDI, which I think will be an excellent upgrade to this engine, but that will not be installed before the trip.
I am AMPED about driving across country in an old audi, its literally been a dream for as long as I’ve been into these cars. Hope she makes it!
Approximate map of trip. I may return a little more south and cruise up through the mountains in West Virginia.
Planning on spending a couple days in Bryce Canyon Hiking on the way out and A couple in Zion on the way back.